To say Harry Potter has been a big part of my life would be an understatement.
From the time I started the series when I was 10, until this week, I have consistently looked forward to the next book or movie in this franchise.
From its humble beginnings on restaurant napkins, to a now $15 billion empire, the Harry Potter brand has done more than excite crowds of children into dressing in robes and round glasses.
It has been a launching point for many children's literary lives and has inspired an entire youth to put down the remote and pick up a book.
From the depths of J.K. Rowling's imagination has come the fantastical wizarding world with its inhabitants and, of course, Hogwarts.
The school acts as a character of its own, ever changing and providing assistance to those who need it most.
I know myself and several of my friends hoped to receive our acceptance letter to the prestigious magical school.
No other series in my generation--or my parent's for that matter--has seen such crowds line up for the midnight release...of the BOOK.
Every time a new book came out, my parents knew talking to me for the next two days was out of the question.
I found it hard to pull myself away from my Potter read-a-thons, and even when I was away I pictured myself hanging with friends in the Gryffindor common room or studying by the shores of the Black Lake.
I don't mean for these statements to sound nerdy, but more to emphasize the detail Rowling provides in her writing and how involved the reader feels in the story.
Harry's triumphs became my triumphs, and I would get so engrossed in a battle scene, you would think it was my life on the line.
Rowling thought her series out with a passionate precision most writers can only dream of.
To open one of her novels is to open your mind and completely immerse yourself in the picture she has painted for her readers.
Many religious groups look at the books as devil worship, and some older folks tend to think of them as silly, driving some kids to read them under the sheets with a flashlight (much like Harry with his spellbooks).
What some refuse to, or simply cannot see, is that the world of Harry and his friends has also provided an entire generation with a means to escape.
For a few hours, we were able to slip away from homework or the terrible things going on in the world to learn spells and how to fight off dementors.
While none of that is useful in everyday life, it helped us expand our minds and our vocabularies.
What is most magical about the Harry Potter franchise is that the movies live up to the book's expectations.
Certain details and plot twists might be tweaked or left out altogether, much to the chagrin of Potterheads, but the main story line remains intact and is easily followed, especially for those who haven't read the books.
The set development for the films was, in my humble opinion, brilliant.
Every part of the castle looks exactly as I would have pictured it in my head almost as if the words leapt off the page to form it themselves.
To create such a world in the imaginations of many with simply words is a feat, but to do that world justice cinematically made the movies a success.
And so we find ourselves on the eve of the premiere, staring the end in the face.
It will be undoubtably difficult to walk out of the theater and comprehend there will be no more installments of the series to look forward to.
Rowling has captivated and delighted us for 15 years and her magic will undoubtably last the test of time, without the help of the Sorcerer's Stone.
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